Save the Date: Our Water, Our Future

Five years ago, the Obama Administration made a promise to take measures to protect the people, waters, and mountains of Appalachia from the dangerous impacts of mountaintop removal mining.

“Mountaintop coal mining,” said former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, “cannot be predicated on the assumption of minimal oversight of its environmental impacts, and its permanent degradation of water quality. Stronger reviews and protections will safeguard the health of local waters, and thousands of acres of watersheds in Appalachia.”

Well, it’s five years later and we are still waiting for those safeguards. Meanwhile, the toll of coal on water and people in Central Appalachia is increasing, punctuated by the recent coal ash, slurry, and coal-processing chemical spills across our region.